The very best reissue shirts should first and foremost be at least one, if not all, of these three things. A) A genuinely desirable shirt B) One that is very, very hard to get a hold of and C) A faithful recreation of the original design.
These criteria would, for example, exclude Errea’s ham fisted attempt at reviving the Shrewsbury town’s ‘scrambled egg’ shirt of 92/93 as well as the many recreations from the school of ‘make it again, but tighter’ that have flooded the market in recent years.
So with all that in mind we’ve picked out some of the best re-issues around. Recreations that, generally, tick all three of the above and look damn good doing it.
Napoli 87/88 home - Ennerre
Monty Burns himself would wince at the price of an original 1987/88 Maradona Napoli shirt. We’re talking thousands. The season would see Maradona and his Napoli side achieve one of sports greatest ever achievements in clinching Serie A for the first time in their history.
Luckily, iconic Italian brand Ennerre (NR) had the business acumen to produce what can only be described as an outrageously accurate (and beautiful) reproduction. Every stitch is lovingly recreated and frankly, it shows.
Shop Napoli gear here
Arsenal bruised banana away - Adidas
The pièce de résistance of Arsenal's recent nostalgia push, the bruised banana reissue sold out almost instantly when it was released last year. While the original is still hotly debated over, its place in the hearts of Arsenal fans is undeniable. This, coupled with the fact that the originals now fetch well over £300, means it’s not hard to see why it went so quickly.
The iconic pattern is recreated to the specs of the original and looks fantastic. Though if we have one gripe it's that the Adidas trefoil, JVC sponsor and club badge are all smushed into the middle of the shirt in a way very much not reminiscent of the original. This was reportedly due to the fact that Adidas felt that the shirt would most likely be worn under coats and jackets. Cynical, but as offences go, we’ll very much allow it.
Buy the OG Arsenal Bruised Banana right here
Arsenal 90/92 home - Adidas
While the away shirt flew off the shelves, the 90/92 home shirt is still widely available, which is a shame for Adidas but I think they’ll survive. While design features were updated on the away shirt, Adidas went all out on replicating the home design. It’s practically a spitting image of the original, right down the internal stitching of the garment.
Adidas’ loss is your gain though, with the originals fetching close to £200 the roughly 65 quid that most outlets seem to be looking for looks like a steal.
Shop all Arsenal shirts from here
Mexico 1998 World Cup - ABA Sports
Mexican manufacturer ABA sports made their mark on the world of football in a massive way at France 98. Their amazing aztec calendar inspired design was the pick of the bunch in a World Cup full of some of the greatest kits the tournament has ever seen.
Read: 11 OF THE BEST: FRANCE '98 KITS.
It didn’t hurt that Mexico had some of the most endearing and outrageous characters, from Blanco’s bunny hops to madman goalkeeper Campos and Hernandez’ flowing locks. While the originals fetch north of £350 we’ve just got our hands on ABA sports reissues of the iconic home and away shirts, featuring the names and numbers of all three of Mexico’s biggest names of the tournament. And trust us, they are pretty special.
Grab your own Mexico 1998 Re-Issue Shirt NOW
Boca Juniors 95/96 home - Olan
For many the only image conjured up by the word Olan, indeed if you have any, is the Argentine brands name on the chest of a beaming Maradona, complete with blocky blonde streak, as he leads Boca out on his return to La Bombonera.
You can hardly blame them then for reissuing the iconic design complete with Quilmes beer sponsor to chest. Not only does it hold a special place in the hearts of many boca fans but it also happens to be a damn nice shirt. A very smart reissue.
Buy Boca Juniors Football Shirts
AC Milan 83/84 home - Ennerre
Back to Ennerre, who are quickly becoming the kings of the reissue, for this one. The 1983/84 AC Milan shirt was produced in part to celebrate the career of stalwart defender Franco Baresi and features his iconic #6 to the back.
As with Maradona’s Napoli shirt no expense has been spared in creating a reproduction true to the original design. It also doesn't hurt that the original, in our humble opinion, is among the finest the Rossoneri have ever donned.
Read: THE TOP TEN AC MILAN KITS.
The 83/84 would see Milan back in the top flight and being led by a 23 year old captain Baresi to 6th place in the league as the team worked its way back up to the very top of the Italian footballing pyramid.
Shop AC Milan Retro Kits
Barcelona 1998/99 home - Nike
Now for something a bit different. In a world populated by terrible muscle fit polyester nightmares based loosely on classic designs like Holland 88, any notion of change in the world of reissues is a terrifying prospect. But back in 2019 Nike and Barcelona came together to make a genuinely good update for the 20th anniversary of their memorable 1998/99 kit.
Based on the latest Vapor template the updated shirt featured a generally more modern and sleek design and has the added benefit of utilising the latest Nike tech. The use of the current La Liga numbering for the ‘hero’ prints was however, a big no.
Shop Barcelona shirts here
Carlos Montoya GK 1995/96 - Olan
At the top of this piece we talked about the importance of rarity in a reissue, and things don't get much rarer than this. Back to that brand Olan again, this time with a rather special design that could only have come from the deranged mind of a goalkeeper. (Although the actual origins are debated) Mono Montoya’s ‘big rig’ design is one of the most celebrated in South American history.
Read: THE STRANGE HISTORY OF THE TRUCK DRIVING KEEP KIT.
The bespoke design features a caricature of Montoya himself at the wheel and is virtually impossible to get your hands on. Lucky then that around the same time they were cooking up the Maradona reissue shirt they also opted to reproduce Montoya’s crazy kit.
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